


Relax For A Moment

by HazelNeedsSomeHelp



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other, Sadness, spoilers for wildlife preservation in borderlands 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:08:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25417438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazelNeedsSomeHelp/pseuds/HazelNeedsSomeHelp
Summary: You and Mordecai were pretty affected by what Jack did to Bloodwing, so you two sat back for a while and relaxed.
Relationships: Mordecai (Borderlands)/Reader, Mordecai/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Relax For A Moment

**Author's Note:**

> around the end of this i started giving up so uhhhh heres a four page sad angsty mordy/reader fic cuz theres not enough of em

Mordecai was-- well, not narcissistic-- but sure as hell proud of himself. He always was. Whether it was from a perfectly done headshot or a successful fight alongside Bloodwing, he was always happy. Always drinking and laughing, telling stories and sharing advice. He was… You could say he was the best person on Pandora, and that was putting him up against the likes of Roland or Maya or even Zer0. 

You didn't want to say you were in love with him-- not because you weren't, but because love never ends well on Pandora. Look at Lilith with Roland, they split up; look at Moxxi with, uh, anyone, they split up, too. Romance loses its charm when you get to Pandora. But still, Mordecai and his damned pride was so alluring.

But it didn't take long for that to change. You were fighting with him and a couple other vault hunters. You all needed some chip bullshit thing for Claptrap, all to get through another impossible hurdle that would take you to Angel, Handsome Jack's AI that's generally been helping and hurting you. Mordecai hung back, like usual, sniping from afar as you and the hunters mowed through waves of stalkers, skags, and Hyperion loaders.

His bird, Bloodwing, had been kidnapped by a Hyperion crew, who almost managed to take him out. If it weren't for that bird, he'd be just another corpse, lost to the dust. Despite this, he was still proud. Kept saying shit like "Blood can handle herself" and "we've been through worse, Blood and I", kept saying she'd get out just fine. But with every enemy you shot down, it seemed a little worse. Seeing all the creatures, big and small, tested on with eridium. Bloodwing may be a tough bird, but she's still flesh and blood. And typical flesh and blood doesn't handle slag all too well.

You knew it, the other vault hunters knew it, and Mordecai knew it. He knew it but wouldn't say it. He was insisting that Bloodwing would be fine, and after a while, you were no longer sure whether he truly believed it.

You wanted him to still believe it, you wanted to believe it yourself. But Jack, Jack's an awful man, and he's done awful things. With the beloved pet of one of his enemies in his grasp, you'd be considered lucky if you even find the bird's body.

And, technically, you did find Bloodwing. But… But she wasn't herself anymore. Now monstrous and terrifying-- not that her usual self wasn't scary-- and violent. She attacked you and the hunters. Mordecai begged her to stop; finally, after all these months you've been around him, he finally lost his cool. You could hear the pain in his voice, begging everyone to not kill her. You could hear him reloading his gun-- tranq darts, now-- as he continued to cry out about how he can help her, Zed can help her, just don't. Kill. Bloodwing.

All the while, Handsome Jack cackled over the ECHOcom, making fun of everyone for fighting so hard and for Mordecai caring so much. That bastard, if the vault hunters didn't put a bullet in his head first, you sure as hell would do it yourself. He continued to call out the various stages of slag, always forgetting the last one. You hoped the last one wouldn't work out how you thought it would.

But your hopes were crushed. Everything kind of blurred together after that. The sound of bones breaking and guts splattering, the shocked gasps of the hunters and Mordecai pained screams, Jack laughing and loaders surrounding you. You didn't realize what was happening until one of the hunters grabbed your arm and pulled you away from Bloodwing's body, and you all met back up with Mordecai.

He barely moved, keeping his back turned to everyone and keeping his eyes locked on where Blood was. Roland called in, saying everyone had to hurry up, we didn't have much time. The hunters tried to bring you along, but you said you wanted to stay back for a minute, regain your bearings. They nodded and left, taking the upgrade chip with them.

You collapsed against the rock wall, half-forgetting Mordecai was there. God… Why did you ever come along with this all? You weren't a vault hunter, you were barely even a Crimson Raider. You were just an overachiever; too excited about the idea of taking down Jack, too excited to end Hyperion, that you jumped in as backup and forgot how truly horrible this planet is. 

You didn't realize you had been crying until Mordecai offered you a dirty rag, "to wipe your tears", which you hesitantly took. You also hadn't realized that he had moved, or that night had fallen. Nearly everything outside of the small outlook you were on had gone pitch, you couldn't see too far out. The small lanterns Mordecai had scattered around lit up the spot, casting long shadows that stretched out to their mother darkness, out into the night.

Mordecai sat down next to you, sighing. You were taking this so bad, you couldn't begin to imagine how he felt. Bloodwing had been his partner in crime for years, she was all he had for so long. Even though he's a Crimson Raider, and has close friends like Tina, he still always fell back on that bird.

He growled slightly and pulled off his goggles, accidentally tearing off some of his scarf along with it. You had never seen him without them. It may be awful timing to be caught up in this, but he was beautiful. Bright teal eyes-- though heavily bloodshot and puffy from crying-- and thick hair. It was growing out at the roots, messing up the neat dreadlocks he had, and turning a bit grey, too. It suited him, though, the grey parts. Just a single hair, here and there, adding a touch of variety to his dark brown hair.

He looked out ahead, staring at the stars. One of the few-- very few-- good things about Pandora was the view. Elpis was so close, you could almost see Concordia on it, and all the stars and planets beyond. You hardly cared about them anymore, you were stuck on Pandora anyways. You instead stared at the rag in your hands, occasionally stealing a glance at Mordecai.

"You know…" The sniper started slowly, chuckling as a faint smile came across his face. "I'm not usually this naked around people."

You laughed. He laughed. You locked eyes with him, then laughed again and turned away.

"Seriously, though, amigo. Only Brick and Moxxi have seen this much of me. I prefer to keep, uh, hidden."

You nodded. "I get that. I used to do that. Always wearing hoods or masks, not letting people really see me. I stopped bothering after a while, though. Doesn't matter if people know me or not, they're still gonna try to kill me."

Mordecai nodded. "Whole galaxy is like that, huh? You could be the sweetest person to ever live and someone's still got a hit on you."

You both went quiet for barely a moment, before Mordecai added to his claim.

"Blood… She--" He paused and sniffled. "--She was sweet. Bit touchy around strangers, but was a sweetheart. All she wanted to do was protect me."

His voice cracked at the end, and he looked up at the stars again. "We always wanted to explore the stars together; almost had it, too. We went to a couple planets, trying to find a purpose, or a hobby. Then I heard about the vaults, and we finally found something. It never should've ended like this…" He sniffled again and rubbed his eyes.

You scooted closer to him, offering the rag to him. He took it and wiped away his tears, then tossed it over to his cot. He leaned against you. He was lighter than you had expected, but warm. Not Pandora warm, not blistering hot and uncomfortable. It was nice, really nice. The fabric of his scarf rubbed against your arm, it was soft. 

"Do you… Think she's happier now?" You asked quietly. "Like, do you think she's chasing varkids in heaven or something?"

Mordecai shrugged and chuckled. "Dunno, never thought too much about it. Death always seemed so far away and distant, I didn't bother to think it over. But… Wherever she's ended up, I do hope she's happy. I hope I can join her there someday."

You nodded. "Until then, though, we should make the most of what we've got. Make, I don't know, a better future, I guess. Kill Jack, ruin Hyperion, make Pandora livable. What's the idea, making it better for future generations? Something like that."

"You're pretty optimistic for a Pandoran." Mordecai commented, moving closer.

You shivered, it was getting colder out and you didn't have any long sleeves.

"I'm not that optimistic, really." You said as Mordecai wrapped an arm around your shoulders, mumbling something about being cold. "I just, I don't want to bring others down. Especially now. I mean, yeah thing's may be looking up with having Angel on our side and having all these hunters together, but let's be real, Jack is still winning. Every day another Raider dies, every day Jack manages to trick us again, every day Sanctuary almost falls again. Even with the people we have on our side, we're still worlds away from winning."

"Yeah, but, who knows. We may still have a chance. Somehow. We've got Lilith and Maya-- two crazy powerful sirens-- on our side, along with everyone from ex-military turret-lovers to questionably-human assassins. This rag-tag group just might work."

You hummed in agreement. "Maybe."

You finally let yourself lean into his side, resting your head against his shoulder. He leaned his head against your own and sighed.

"Whether we lose or win." Mordecai said quietly. "Let's just… Enjoy this night. It's been shit so far, but maybe, maybe we can relax for a minute and forget the world."

You agreed and he hugged you closer. You could smell the alcohol on him, and wouldn't mind it being the last thing you ever smelled. Typically rakk ale smelled awful to you, but something about him made it bearable, enjoyable even. You breathed in deeply and let out a long sigh as you let yourself relax, for once.


End file.
